Today my eldest son and I went to the Guelph quarry to go rock hounding. We had a beautiful sunny day and the perfect cool weather to enjoy ourselves. We found many different crystals (a few which can be used for pigments) and came back after a full day with three big bags full of … Read more
With the pigment from the Conestogo river collected and purified I began to test the effects of heating in earnest. Increasing the temperature by 100ºF each time, I tested the samples from 300ºF (150ºC) up to 1700ºF (925ºC). This was a whole day’s work, as the kiln needed constant attention and the samples were being … Read more
Now that the fall weather is here in force, the horse chestnut tree behind our house is loosing its leaves and its nuts. I’ve used the hulls for the nuts before to make ink (something that Fr. Nathanael showed me many years ago). So today the kids and I gathered up what we could and … Read more
With the drawing underway, I’ve decided to also begin working on some ideas I have for the construction of the panel. Throughout my work, I’ve always thought it was crucial to let the different materials I use influence the finished work so it is time to give the panel a voice within this process! The … Read more
Winter seems to be coming quickly this year, and while it was cold this morning (11 °C / 52 °F) the week’s forecast called for even colder weather as the week progresses, so I decided to collected pigment from the Conestoga River today. Because of the rain we’ve had, the river is pretty muddy, but … Read more
As one thing has built upon another, my sketches have begun to express a little of what I’m aiming to achieve over this year of MFA work at Transart. While these are in no way finished works, sharing them will hopefully provide a glimpse of what has happened this month. Exploring the initial inspiration of … Read more
Over the last few years I’ve collected a nice pile of rocks from the Conestoga River that have a wonderful sienna colour to them. That said, it seems like the rocks have absorbed the colour from something outside themselves (oftentimes the centre is still colourless). Today I took two of my children for a walk … Read more
Over the past week I’ve been carefully cleaning the indigo pigment I harvested from my woad plants this year. This was possible because the morning after I was so disheartened to be left only with green form I opened my vat to discover a rich blue foam has developed overnight. I still don’t know why … Read more
Over this part summer my wife and I left a couple of plots “unplanted” in our garden. Instead we shook out last years woad seeds over the earth and let the plots be. As I had hoped, the woad plants grew up among the weeds. But last night it went down to 6 °C (43 … Read more
Along the Conestogo River there is a sentinel red maple tree that must be a couple of hundred years old. It is broken in half midway up it’s trunk and many of it’s branches have been infested with bugs. Still, it puts out buds every year and leaves every summer. While more than half the … Read more